Chandra Release - December 8, 2016

Visual Description: SPT0346-52

This graphic shows a frame from a computer simulation (main image) and astronomical data (inset upper right) of a distant galaxy undergoing an extraordinary construction boom of star formation. The galaxy, SPT0346-52, is 12.7 billion light years from Earth.  The main panel of the graphic shows one frame of a simulation produced on a supercomputer colored in browns, blues and greys with a pointed high resolution look. The distorted looking galaxy results from a collision between two galaxies followed by them merging. Once the two galaxies collide, gas near the center of the merged galaxy (shown as a bright region in the center of the simulation) is compressed, producing the burst of new stars seen forming in SPT0346-52. Dark regions in the simulation represent cosmic dust that absorbs and scatters starlight.  The brightly colored dots shown in the inset is a composite image with X-ray data from Chandra (colored in blue), short wavelength infrared data from Hubble (green), infrared light from Spitzer (red) at longer wavelengths, and infrared data from ALMA (magenta) at even longer wavelengths. SPT0346-52 is not visible in the Hubble or Spitzer data, but the intervening galaxy causing the gravitational lensing is detected.  There is no blue at the center of the image, showing that Chandra did not detect any X-rays that could have signaled the presence of a growing black hole. These data suggest that SPT0346-52 is forming at a rate of about 4,500 times the mass of the Sun every year, one of the highest rates seen in a galaxy.